Mr President,
distinguished members of the Assembly, the Council of Europe's founders
wanted to enable Europeans to put behind them the nightmare they
had only recently endured and encourage them to place their faith
in the future. They dreamt of a civilised Europe, one steeped in
history, and they defined the essential rules of coexistence.

From the start, showing bold foresight, the Council of Europe,
saw the interests of Europe’s citizens as hinging on a system of
well-defined rules and values from its inception. The European Convention
on Human Rights, whose fiftieth anniversary we shall be celebrating
in Rome in a few weeks’ time, marked a decisive step towards codifying
states’ international responsibility for human rights violations.

The Council of Europe, the only genuinely pan-European organisation,
rejects the notion that divisions are cast in stone. It stands for
a dynamic civic awareness, for clarity, dialogue and cohesion.

The Council of Europe also stands as a warning against the
dangers of fragmentation, intolerance and xenophobia, and provides
a bulwark against the evil that erupts, at times unexpectedly, in
the course of human history, sometimes in tragic circumstances,
and sometimes in the lethal guise of populism and egoism, in flagrant
contradiction with fundamental European values.

The Council of Europe’s original message encourages us to
look ahead to the extraordinary possibilities that are opening up
in the twenty-first century.

The Council of Europe represents a great historic design,
enduring symbols of which are Strasbourg cathedral and the village
a few kilometres away where Albert Schweitzer was born, reflecting
the extraordinary values of human solidarity that have flourished
in what was once a border region.

Without the original vision of the Council of Europe and an
act of faith in European unity at the Congress of The Hague, the
European Community might never have taken its first decisive steps
along the path towards integration.

The need to open up to embrace all the peoples of Europe was
an extraordinary intuition, one that found realisation immediately
after the fall of the Berlin Wall, with the rapid accession of the
countries of central and eastern Europe and the Russian Federation
to the Council of Europe.

I wish to pay a warm tribute to those countries, and express
my faith and hope in them and in their renewed commitment to consolidating
democracy and respecting human rights. The Russian Federation has
a vital role to play in helping to forge a common destiny of freedom
and democracy. It is in that spirit that I hope the Russian delegation
will be able to resume its participation in the work of the Assembly.

This Chamber bears living testimony to the way in which countries
have built up economic prosperity and social well-being after the
devastation caused by the war and totalitarianism by opting for
freedom, democracy, the rule of law and the market economy.

The standard-setting system of the Council of Europe is now
part of our democratic heritage, but it still requires the support
of committed individuals. The European Convention on Human Rights,
the European Social Charter, the European Convention for the Prevention
of Torture and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National
Minorities are the pillars on which that heritage rests. The many
laws that have been codified on the basis of those texts have broadened
the scope of freedom and justice in Europe and consolidated a sense
of pride among Europe’s populations in the fact that they are members
of a common civilisation.

Their practical and committed application will highlight what
needs to be done to improve European democracy and the enjoyment
of the inalienable rights of the individual, of which the Council
of Europe has shown itself to be such an able guardian.

The constant concern for the problems of those who are excluded
from society, for the weak and for minorities is a credit to your
institution. Let me mention in particular the social role of the
European Development Bank in raising the living standards of the
less-privileged sectors of society.

Today, Europeans have an anthem and a flag, and it is thanks
to the Council of Europe, which, as early as the 1970s, realised
the power of symbols and the need to ensure that Europe would not
be perceived as a faceless entity.

Mr President, distinguished members of the Assembly, the Council
of Europe has already given a convincing reply to the question of
Europe’s borders, breathing a historical spirit into a geophysical
definition. The boundaries of European civilisation are not fixed;
rather they depend on its ability to radiate.

The confidence of this reply is justified by the huge area
you represent: forty-one countries with a total population of more
than 800 million, destined to grow further when they are joined
by another two ancient nations, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Many of
the countries represented here are members of the European Union, while
others are waiting to join and still more aspire to cast their anchors
in an area of democracy and freedom by establishing an enduring
bond of cooperation and partnership.

Greater Europe does not clash with lesser Europe here in Strasbourg.
It is more a case of Europe’s different concentric circles finding
fertile ground for interaction, thanks to a sense of belonging,
rooted in the common patterns of thought and feeling that have evolved
throughout European history. It is your task to consolidate, in
this vast area, the values and principles which define the features
of a truly European civil society, without which there can be no
community of values.

The principle of domestic jurisdiction can no longer be used
as an argument to justify violations of fundamental human rights.
This important development will open up new areas for your work,
provided it is based on a permanent readiness to come forward with
proposals and engage in dialogue. Where these issues are concerned,
member states can no longer jealously cling to pockets of national
sovereignty.

The Council of Europe’s monitoring of the application of democratic
principles in its member states provides an incentive to consolidate,
wherever necessary, the conditions needed to ensure that human dignity
and fundamental rights are respected. It is in the interest of everyone
concerned to foster a direct and patient dialogue which, through
mutual goodwill, knowledge of local situations, and identification
of the obstacles, paves the way for solutions and pre-empts clashes
alien to the conciliatory tradition of the Council of Europe.

Our efforts to win the Balkans over to European values are
a test of the solidity of our principles and the credibility of
international organisations. The Council of Europe is helping to
build civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Albania,
as well as engaging in dialogue with representatives of Yugoslav
civil society and culture. It can stimulate new and fruitful contacts
between Albanian Kosovars and Serbs. It is carrying out an important
task in warding off the anti-historical temptation to create mono-ethnic
states.

Three major aims have now emerged from the Council of Europe’s
experience of fifty years, aims that must take in the vast area
situated between the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Pacific:
human rights, good governance and European cultural identity, taken
to include both our common heritage and a desire to live together
in peace.

There can be no setting up of a system of rules to protect
local, regional and national interests in the abstract. It would
be contradictory to advocate and accept commitments relating to
human rights and the protection of minorities, but then fail to
monitor the practical application of those principles. Thus, it
is crucial to move on from the think-tank stage and a plethora of
conventions to the adoption of an organised system of principles
and rules, both perceived to be and effectively constituting the
authentic common heritage of European democracy.

During its term in the chair of the Council of Europe’s Committee
of Ministers, Italy is striving to narrow the gap between the Council
of Europe’s legal instruments and their applicability in practice,
in the knowledge that it is a moral duty, more than a legal one,
to honour one's international obligations fully.

Political stability and economic progress are prerequisites
for guaranteeing the sound functioning of democracy, but they are
not sufficient in themselves. The grey area of indifference must
be bridged by guaranteeing the credibility of institutions and the
effectiveness of legislation.

As Cesare Beccaria wrote in 1766: “To me it appears absurd
that laws which abhor and punish murder themselves commit murder,
and that, in order to prevent citizens from committing murder, they
order public murder to be committed.” I quote these premonitory
words in a renewed appeal to see the death penalty definitively
abolished within the boundaries of the Council of Europe region.
It must be removed from those legal systems that still make provision
for it, and substantial progress must be made in those countries
where moratoria remain in force.

That would indeed be a resounding signal of a European identity,
one addressed to the entire international community, and conveying
the authority born of genuinely shared sentiments.

Culture is a vital force in ensuring the triumph of Europe’s
founding principles, but how do we define culture today? Is it just
the sum of our different national cultures? Are we to seek the essence
of our identity in a system of shared values only? Europe’s cultural
identity runs like a red thread across national memories, uniting
them within a broader sentiment. It feeds on diversity, differences
that have been mutually enriching through the ages, on the rejection
of drab standardisation and on the cultivation of our humanist roots
in the face of calls to consider technologies as ends in themselves,
rather than as means. It is all these things that express the essence
of Europe.

Italy, with a heritage accumulated over millennia, and with
die oldest language in the west, is firmly convinced that now, more
than ever, culture must be placed at the very heart of the work
of the Council of Europe. The mock-up of the imperial forum in the
age of Emperor Trajan, now on display here, is a reminder of our
Latin Mediterranean heritage, a vital substrate on which the concept
of Europe was to develop. Italy intends to bear witness in practice
to an ancient European world unified by law and made prosperous
through peace.

In a world dominated by a tendency towards the marginalisation
of culture, the idea of giving substance to a common European cultural
identity is one that must be tenaciously pursued and made the centrepiece
of all our endeavours. There is a risk of seeing Europe’s historical
memory, its natural and urban landscape and the very wealth of its
artistic and cultural heritage forced into a subordinate position
as immediate consumer and market demands prevail.

We can never pay sufficient attention to these issues: they
must be made an absolute imperative – one capable of mustering the
best forces in society. The Council of Europe can do a great deal
to ensure that Europe does not just mutely bear witness to a glorious
past. This means enlisting Europe’s young people and universities and
backing projects and programmes that help people to see our traditions
as a common legacy and as a reason to look confidently and responsibly
to the future.

There is certainly a deep-seated desire among the Italian
people to see the Council of Europe step up its commitment to a
system of values and guarantees, and foster constant progress.

We note with satisfaction that the charter of fundamental
rights, the drafting of which is nearing completion, and the European
Convention on Human Rights are bound by a sense of shared aims and
responsibility. The cause of human rights in Europe can only gain
from co-operation between the two institutions. Mr President, distinguished
members of the Assembly, there can be no let-up in the introduction
of a system of law designed to enable the whole of Europe to progress
in the wake of a civilisation the foundations of which were undermined
by the spiritual and material devastation of two world wars.

Showing great foresight, the Council of Europe sensed the
aspirations of our age, grasping what was common to a multifaceted
Europe and sparing no effort to make the rules of peaceful coexistence
between all Europeans intelligible and practicable. These objectives
alone would suffice to justify the Council of Europe’s mission.
Without constant vigilance and pre-emptive action, democracy might
become an empty shell, cloaked in lofty but meaningless words. The
most ambitious political proposals come to nothing if they do not
have the backing of coherent projects and specific initiatives.
Here again, I am thinking about the situation in the Balkans, where
full advantage must be taken of the experience and the capabilities
of this institution.

Never allow your main qualities to be undermined: your ability
to talk to all sides, your aptitude for dialogue, your readiness
to look at the facts and your constant involvement, all of which
spring from, and indeed foster, an awareness of being part of a
wider European civil society.

Twentieth-century European history warns us that only the
pursuit of values will improve the human condition and satisfy the
aspirations of our citizens. The citizens of all the nations represented
here must increasingly be involved – that is the ultimate aim of
the Council of Europe – in exalting the deep roots of our common civilisation,
and affirming an identity based on the principles of pluralist democracy
and human rights.

Architecture –I mentioned Strasbourg cathedral earlier – teaches
us that a simple brick building can be more beautiful than one clad
in marble. The Council of Europe should remember that and exploit
its inherent characteristics to make the individual and human dignity
central to its mission.